Kuldeep Yadav: "I did not enjoy Chinaman bowling initially"

“He is the kind of a bowler who can win you matches in the future. We should keep an eye on him."

– Sunil Gavaskar

For the global cricket family, the Asian subcontinent is regarded as the land of tweakers. But Kuldeep Yadav, the 22-year-old left-arm spinner from Kanpur, belongs to a rare stock of spinners – the Chinaman. The UP boy, who had a very successful 2016-17 domestic season, deservedly earned a maiden call-up for the one-off Test against Bangladesh, after leg-spinner Amit Mishra was ruled out of action owing to injury.

Ever since Kuldeep cemented his place in the Uttar Pradesh Ranji Trophy squad three seasons ago, his performances have been consistent, if not prolific. But it was the newly-developed flipper, showcased during a Duleep Trophy game last year, which showed that the bowler had expanded his horizons.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda, the Kolkata Knight Riders tweaker credited his newfound art of flip bowling to his IPL teammate Brad Hogg. “The experience of playing alongside Brad Hogg (another Chinaman bowler) helped me a lot. We often discussed bowling together in the nets, and it was he who helped me bowling flippers, the faster ones and wrong-uns.”

Surprisingly, Kuldeep started his cricketing journey as a fast bowler and was never inclined to bowling Chinaman. “I was a left-arm fast bowler and did not even know what Chinaman was. One fine day, at the academy where I trained, my coach asked me to start spin-bowling.

“And the very first delivery I bowled was a Chinaman, unaware of what it was. From that point of time, my coach asked me to continue nurturing the rare skill. Initially, I did not enjoy Chinaman bowling and also faced some difficulties, but with time, I got used to it,” the ever-smiling cricketer said.

After a decent outing in the Champions League 2014, Kuldeep was included in India's ODI squad for the series against the West Indies the same year. While he could not make his international debut because of an already sorted team combination, the spin sensation made his first-class and List A debuts shortly after.

When asked if he was excited or jittery about sharing the dressing room with the seniors after a gap of two years, he calmly said, “I was 18 years old (he was 19 actually) when I got a call-up for the ODI team. Back then, I felt out of place amidst the seniors because I was very young and also, immature.

“But in the past two years, I have played competitive cricket with many senior players and have also interacted with them off the field. So I don’t think I should feel out of place in the dressing room this time around!”

A lesser-known fact about Kuldeep is his skill with the willow. He was not just the highest wicket-taker for UP this Ranji season, taking 35 wickets in total, but was also the highest run-getter. In eight matches and 13 innings, he collected 466 runs, with a highest of 117.

Early in his career, Kuldeep revealed, he was good with the bat. “I used to bat well as a child. When I played for UP U16, U19, I always scored well for my team. But then I began to focus more on my bowling and lost focus from batting. I would practise batting only when I felt the team needed more support from the batting line-up.

“Otherwise, bowling has been my first priority and I always see myself as a bowling-all rounder and not a batting one.”

In 8 matches and 13 innings, Kuldeep collected 466 runs, with a highest of 117 in Ranji Trophy

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The Indian team management will try to avoid fidgeting too much with the team composition for the one-off Test, as the Australia series looms large. It is thus unlikely that the tweaker will make his Test debut tomorrow. Yadav, however, is only looking at the positives from his selection.

“Obviously it's very difficult for a young spinner to make his way into the team when it already comprises of experienced spinners like Ashwin and Jaddu bhai, who are bringing a lot of merit to the country. Utna farak nai padta agar naya koi spinner team me aye (it doesn’t matter much if a new spinner makes it to the team). But the experience I will gain from being with the experienced will help me a lot with a lot of matches coming up,” he said.

Kuldeep has been included in the India A squad against Australia and will, in all probability, be a part of the playing XI there. “Harr match important hai (every match is important). Good performance is everything, and to keep excelling, that is all I need to deliver. Badi opportunity hai ki main ye sare (tour matches) khel raha hoon, mehnat karne ka mauka mil raha hai (Big opportunity for me that I’m playing all these tour matches, I can work hard and prove myself).”

When asked which Indian batsman he finds the most difficult to bowl to in the nets, Kuldeep emphasised on the fact that almost all Indian batsmen play spinners well. “All Indian batsmen are equally good, and most play spinners well. So any wicket is equally special for me.”

When asked to name an International batsman instead, whose scalp he would love to pocket, Kuldeep again did not have any particular name in mind. “I have never really pictured that one wicket I would love to take. I just want to concentrate on improving myself with each opportunity.”

Like most cricketers of his age, the youngster looked upon Shane Warne as his bowling model and for batting, upon Sachin Tendulkar. “I grew up watching Shane Warne play. I would try to learn as much as I could by watching replays of his bowling. Aur Sachin paaji toh sab ke favorite hain hi (And Sachin paaji is anyway everyone’s favourite)”, concluded the polite and down-to-earth lad.

Apart from its distinguished leather, and the Indian Institute of Technology, ‘the Manchester of India’ Kanpur can now take pride in its production of a rare breed of bowlers too.